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Welcome

“What we can and must do…is sustain the effort to make our campuses safer over the long term and to encourage and train students to contribute thoughtfully to these changes in their own communities, both while they are in school and as they take their place in the broader world.”

- President Lee C. Bollinger and Executive Vice President for University Life Suzanne Goldberg

Sexual Respect and Community Citizenship Initiative

This semester, the University begins an initiative focused on what it means to be a member of the Columbia community, guided by our core commitments to mutual respect and belonging, alongside intellectual exchange and ethical leadership.

As one part of this initiative, all Columbia students are taking part in new, required programming that explores the relationship between sexual respect and community membership. Both in the nation and on our own campus, this issue has been a focal point and, for many, a deeply personal part of their experience.

The programming options available to students through CourseWorks include workshops, trainings, film screenings with discussion, videos and reflections, an arts option, and keys to resiliency, which are offerings specially intended for survivors, those who support survivors, and others who have experienced trauma. This variety of choices enable students to find ways to learn, reflect, and act on the link between sexual respect and community membership in the ways most engaging and meaningful to each individual.

Through full engagement, both in thought and action, we look forward to creating a community and campus in which all can participate freely in the robust, pluralistic life of this great University.

The video below introduces the Sexual Respect and Community Citizenship Initiative, with a special focus on the Arts Option, a joint effort of students, faculty, and administrators from across the University, to create a forum for expression related to the relationship between sexual respect and University community membership.